Ivelisse Echevarría (born November 4, 1956)) was inducted into the International Softball Federation Hall of Fame in 2003 and is one of Puerto Rico's greatest

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

's.

Early years

Echevarría was born and raised in the small town of

Peñuelas, Puerto Rico Peñuelas (, ) is a town and municipality in Puerto Rico located in the Peñuelas Valley on the southern coast of the island, south of Adjuntas, east of Guayanilla, west of Ponce and north of the Caribbean Sea. Peñuelas is spread over 12 barr ...

. She became interested in sports during her primary and secondary educational years. She was an active participant in the sports of

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

during her high school years and established several school records. However, she did not know how to play and never participated in the game that in the future would gave her fame and glory in Puerto Rico,

. Echevarría received a scholarship from the

Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico The Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Puerto Rico) is a private Roman Catholic university with its main campus in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It provides courses leading to Bachelor's, Master's and Docto ...

, located in the neighboring city of Ponce and joined that institution's track and field team. She studied physical education and took a course on softball. Echevarría became interested in the game after learning its principles and decided to join a local softball club called ''Las Estrellas de Seboruco''. According to an interview conducted by

El Vocero ''El Vocero de Puerto Rico'' is a Puerto Rican free newspaper that is published in San Juan. Published since 1974, ''El Vocero'' was at first the third of the four largest Puerto Rico newspapers, trailing '' El Mundo'' and '' El Nuevo Día'' and ...

on August 30, 2005, Echevarría did not even know how to put on a baseball glove when she joined. She was noticed by Carlin Velazquez, a former pitcher for the National Men's Softball Team of Puerto Rico, who recommended that she see Alejandro Cruz (politician), Alejandro "Junior" Cruz, manager of the National Women's Softball Team of Puerto Rico and try out for the team. In 1978, Echevarría made the team and was trained by Donna Terry, a Puerto Rican softball pitcher.

National Women's Softball Team of Puerto Rico

In 1979, Echevarría made her pitching debut in the Pan American Games celebrated in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In 1983, she participated in the Pan American Games held in Caracas, Venezuela and established a record by pitching in six consecutive games. She also pitched a perfect no runs and no hits game with 42 pitches on October 8. She pitched a shutout in the Games held in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1987 and she and her team won the silver medal. In 1993, Echevarría and her team won the gold medal in softball in the Centro American Games held in Ponce, Puerto Rico. She also played in the Games held in Mar del Plata, Argentina in 1995. Echevarría was the standard carrier for her team when they represented Puerto Rico in the 1996 Olympics held in Atlanta, United States.

Puerto Rico Sports Hall of Fame

After the 1996 Olympics, Echevarría retired from the game after playing for 14 years. On November, 2003, Echevarría was inducted into the Puerto Rico Sports Hall of Fame and two weeks later the International Softball Federation Hall of Fame announced her election to the Hall. She was officially inducted on March 18, 2004 and the ceremony took place in Guaynabo's Sports Museum where an unveiling of a statue of Echevarría was part of the ceremony.Puerto Rico Herald
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References

External links

Puerto Rico Herald
{{DEFAULTSORT:Echevarria, Ivelisse 1956 births Living people People from Peñuelas, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican softball players Olympic softball players for Puerto Rico Softball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Puerto Rican sportswomen

Early years

National Women's Softball Team of Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico Sports Hall of Fame

See also

References

External links